[u]Part 11[/u]
"Well, I know that you need a really awesome machine to do it. Which, the traveler usually builds himself,might I add, and that when you do travel, you can't come in contact with yourself because."
Tess couldn't help the giggle that escaped from her lips. She hadn't meant for Kyle to actually answer the question. It had been a hopeless attempt on her part to stall the impending conversation, and gain some sort of composure over herself. Because she was quickly losing it. But Kyle had taken the question literally. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much. He could always see the humor in any situation, but at this exact moment, that perk in his personality was more of a flaw. All she wanted him to do was be quiet and listen to what she had to say.
"Kyle, I didn't mean for you to actually answer the question," she said.
Kyle's mouth formed an 'O' shape, and he quickly let his sentence fade out. "Good, because time travel isn't really possible."
Tess looked at Kyle, with a warning glare, silently willing him to be quiet. He must have gotten her message when he threw his hands up in defeat. "Oookay. Then just tell me what you wanted to say."
Tess took a deep breath, and put her head in her hands. This was it. Her moment of truth. What she was about to reveal could make or break her. She could only hope it wasn't the latter.
"Time travel is possible, Kyle. I know it for a fact."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first impossible thing we've discovered to be possible, would it?" Kyle asked with a shrug of his shoulders.
Shaking her head, as if she hadn't heard him, Tess stood up and stepped in front of Kyle. "I know this, because I did it."
"You traveled through time?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Tess shook her head, realizing what she'd said hadn't come out how she'd meant it. "I mean, [i]I[/i] didn't do it, as in [i]me[/i] me, but I [i]did[/i] do it, as in [i]another[/i] me. Well, not another me, the same me, but a different version of me. A version of me from another time line. Another timeline's future, to be exact." Tess stopped talking, and turned to look at Kyle. He was obviously very confused.
"I don't understand, Tess."
"Kyle, before I came back to Roswell, I had a visitor. From the future. She told me things. How things turned out. What happened. And she told me how to stop them from happening. That's why I came back."
Kyle shook his head, still not fully understanding. "You came back here because someone from the future told you to? Why would you believe someone you don't know, Tess? [i]How[/i] could you believe someone you don't even know? What if it was an enemy? A shapeshifter. What if it had been a trick?" Kyle asked, his voice edgy with emotion.
"But that's just it, Kyle. I did know her. It was [i]me[/i]. A future version of myself. From 14 years in the future. I came - I mean, she came back to tell me what I had to do to save the world. That's how I know time travel is possible."
"You saw.you saw yourself?" Kyle asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.
Tess shook her head, and looked down at the floor. Had she seen herself? She had thought so at once. That the person who had come to her had been herself, from 14 years in the future. But now, she was almost positive that the person hadn't been her. Sure, it was a version of her. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it had been the Tess that she [i]had[/i] been. The Tess raised by Nasedo and left to fend for herself after his death. The Tess who had wanted nothing more in life than to be with Max and rule at his side as the Queen of Antar. It wasn't the Tess she was now. She now had people she loved and cared about, had people who called her family.
The other Tess had never experienced such a thing. No, she was not the same Tess.
Ultimately, the person she was now was obviously a lot smarter than the person who had visited from the future. Because, now, she was beginning to see the holes in the story. The things that didn't click. The loose threads that kept everything from coming together.
She was beginning to see in fact that she [i]had[/i] been lied to. And, right then, Tess Harding wanted nothing more than to throw herself across the bed and cry. Not for herself, but for the Tess Harding that had come to visit her four years ago. She wanted to cry for the way life had treated her. How could fate have been so undeniably cruel to someone that they would eventually turn on themselves in a vain attempt to make sure things turned out differently? Letting her guard down for just a moment, Tess forgot what it was she was trying to do, felt her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm a terrible person," Tess said, sighing heavily, talking to herself more than anything. Because if what she was suspecting was true - if she had come back from the future to lie to [I]herself[/I] - she was worse than terrible. She was also crazy.
"Hey," Kyle said soothingly, reaching up and grabbing Tess's hands from her head, gently pushing back the loose wisps of hair around her eyes. He pulled her down to sit next to him. "Don't say that. I'm sure there's an explanation. Whatever's upsetting you, you can tell me. You know that, right?"
Tess looked at Kyle, and couldn't help the single tear that ran down her cheek. She looked down at her fingers, toyed with ring on her left hand. Could she tell him? Could she tell him and still trust him to trust her?
"Tess," he said, tipping her chin "I love you. Whatever it is that's got you so upset, you can tell me. It won't change what I feel for you." Tess felt her heart speed up as Kyle took her left hand and lifted it to her eye level. "This," he said, fingering the ring that she had been toying with only seconds ago, "is forever."
Once again, he was reading her. She'd said nothing of her fears that if she told him the truth, he'd stop loving her. But he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Tess leaned in to Kyle's embrace and looked up into his eyes, offering him a small smile. She could see it in his gaze. She could see what was always there, could see why she loved him so much. Acceptance. Faith. And, unmistakably, unconditional love. It was then, at that instant, that she knew she could tell Kyle. Because he would love her regardless. She never once believed that someone would love her that way. But Kyle did. Her heart swelled with love for the man that she would spend the rest of her life with. At least, if everyone else hated her, she would still have Kyle. She reached up quickly, giving him a tender kiss, then took a deep breath and leaned her head on hi shoulder.
"At the time, I was renting a room at a boarding house. I came home, from going to get something to eat, and she was there. Waiting for me."
Tess sucked in a deep breath, and watched as the scene played out before her eyes.
Early Spring 2003
Turning the key in the door, Tess opened it and stepped inside. She kicked off her shoes at the doorway that separated the bedroom from the main room, the only other part of the small space she now called home.
Life had been hard for her since she'd left Roswell, and she hadn't been happy in what seemed like forever. She knew that her depression showed in her posture, her features and in her personality but she couldn't help it. She'd become something of a mystery to the other boarders, all of them wondering what brought so much sadness to the pretty blonde girl in 4A.
Pulling off her jacket, Tess dropped it on the small card table in the corner and walked into the bedroom, heading for the bath.
"Well now, is that any face to wear when greeting a visitor?"
Tess stopped and jerked her head towards the chair in the corner.
What she saw made her mouth open wide in shock.
The woman sitting in the chair looked so much like her, it made her skin crawl. She had long, wavy hair, which hung loosely down her back. Her eyes were icy blue and her skin a pale, flawless white. Her long slender legs were thrown up on the bed in casual disdain, and were only emphasized by black leather pants that clung to every curve and were tucked inside black knee boots. There was a black trench coat slung over the bed, which had obviously once covered the red halter top she was sporting - the colour of which matched the blood red fingernails she was presently filing with a lack of concern.
Tess immediately threw her hand up in a defensive stance. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" She asked forcefully, hoping her voice did not betray her fear. This had to be a shapeshifter. What did she want from her? Didn't she know that she had left everything she was meant to be back in Roswell, when she had told Max Evans to go screw himself? Of course, the fact that he had been screwing Liz Parker at the time immediately crossed her mind and just made her want to puke. She hastily pushed the thought away.
"Who am I? Tess, darling, do you really have to ask?" The woman chuckled slightly, and rose up, pulling her feet from the bed to the floor. "Isn't it obvious?"
Tess blinked her eyes, before narrowing them slightly at the woman seated before her. "I'll ask you again. Who-are-you?" She paused between her words to emphasize that she wanted an answer.
"Tess, I'm you."
Tess felt the floor spin beneath her and she fought to stay upright. "No, you're not. That's not possible."
"Oh, but it is. You made it possible yourself. Well, actually, me, but it will be you. But if I have my way, it won't."
"What are you talking about?" Tess demanded, taking deep breaths to steady herself. She could barely hear the woman, was listening through the blood rushing in her head.
"The granolith. I modified it. Learned how to make it into a time machine of sorts."
"Why?" Tess asked, lowering her hand, but still not letting her guard completely down.
The woman reached into the pocket of her trench coat, pulling out a small silver book. She threw it on the foot of the bed, within Tess's reach.
Tess gasped. She'd seen that book before. It was the Destiny Book.
"Because the world was ending silly. I had to do something to save it. So I found a way to come back to you and bring you this. I have some things I need to tell you."
"Why? I don't even know how to read this." Tess could feel her panic doubling, tripling. The end of the world? What was this woman talking about?
"Here's the thing sweetheart." The woman's voice was kinder than it had been before, like she was remembering who Tess was at this time. Like she felt compassion for her. It made Tess feel strange, accepting that this was [/I]really[I] her. "You can read it. You've just forgotten how. I decoded it myself and I'm here to show you what it says."
"I don't understand," Tess said, confused. "What did you come here to tell me?"
"It's your destiny, Tess. I'm going to show you how you can save the world."
Tess felt her heart speed up. Had the book really been decoded? If so, this could be what she'd been waiting for since leaving Roswell. Real proof of her destiny. Did this mean she could finally be with Max? Were all her dreams about to come true? All the hatred she had allowed to build up in her heart, the better to pretend she really didn't care anymore about Max, it faded away as though it had never existed.
He could still be hers. Hell, he was hers. Who the heck cared if he had married Liz? Liz, perfect Liz, who had given up all her dreams to become Max's wife, if Pam Troy was to be believed. Liz, who had stolen Tess's place and had never deserved Max anyway.
Tess reached out and fingered the small silver book. She let her fingers trace the royal symbol found on the front, and placed her hand over the cover, feeling the cool metal all but tingle beneath her palm. "What does it say?" She breathed, her hope overwhelming her caution.
She never looked up to see the wicked gleam in the other woman's eye.
"What did she say?" Kyle asked, softly.
"She told me that she'd come from the future. And that before she'd left, Earth had been taken over. She said that everyone was dead. You, Alex, Isabel, Michael, Max, Liz - everyone. Our enemies were too strong."
"Why would she come back to tell you [i]that[/i]?" Kyle asked.
"Because, she said I was the only one who could stop it."
"Stop it how?" Kyle asked.
Tess knew him well enough to know that he was still confused. "She said that she came back to her past to change the future. Kyle, she had the destiny book. She decoded it. She knew what it said. She came back to tell me what was in it, and how I could prevent the deaths of millions of innocent people." And how Max could finally belong to me, Tess reflected guiltily. And that was really why I came.
Kyle nodded, still trying to process so much information at one time. Tess watched the slight movement of his head, and went on.
"She said that the reason the world ended was because of a prophecy that had never been fulfilled."
"What does that have to do with you? Were you the prophecy?"
"No, not exactly," Tess answered hesitantly. "The prophecy said that only a child born of royal Antarian blood would save the world from total destruction. It said that the child had to be fathered by the King of Antar."
"Yeah, so, Max needed to have a kid. What was the problem?"
"The problem was, he was married to Liz, and she can't have his children."
"Wow," Kyle said softly. "That's terrible. Is Liz sterile?"
"No," Tess answered softly. "She, I mean, the other me, told me Liz can't have his child because she's not a hybrid. She told me that hybrids can't have children with humans, only with other hybrids. She told me [i]I[/i] was the only one who could help Max fulfill the prophecy. That's why I came back."
Tess heard Kyle's shocked gasp, turned to see the hurt, anger, and uncertainty flash through Kyle's eyes as he pulled his hands from her grasp.
"You came back to Roswell to have a baby with Max Evans?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Powers. I should have known. I mean, Kyle has some. It didn't even cross my mind to think that you'd have developed them as well." Max sounded more annoyed than anything, but Liz could tell it was at himself, not at her.
"They were awkward at first because I didn't know how to control them. But I practiced, and I'm really good now. Except when I'm stressed out. Then they sometimes.act on their own." Liz grimaced. "I'm sort of like Michael that way."
Max snorted slightly. "What can you do?" He asked stonily.
Liz shrugged her shoulders. "Same things you can do. Change molecular structures, move things - little things. And I can heal small cuts and bruises too, but nothing more. I suppose that comes from you."
"We all have one power unique to us. Even Kyle. What's yours?"
"I see things, Max. Things that haven't happened yet." Oh could she see things, Liz reflected bitterly. Horrible things.
"So, what, you can tell the future?" Max asked.
"No," Liz answered, shaking her head. "When I touch certain things, or talk to certain people, sometimes I get flashes of things that haven't happened yet. I can't control when or how, or why I get them. I just.get them. The first time it ever happened was the night I left Roswell."
"What did you see, Liz?"
Liz started to speak, but stopped abruptly when her mind was assaulted with images she'd long ago locked away.
Spring 2003 - Roswell, New Mexico
Liz Evans opened the door to the small, yet cozy apartment she'd lived in since she'd married Max. It wasn't much, but the memories she and her husband had made there made it home.
She put the groceries on the table and stopped long enough to sniff of the single white rose she found in the vase on the corner of the kitchen cabinet. He was always doing small things for her, always giving her a reason to smile.
She began to hum to herself as she made her way down the hall to grab a clip from their bedroom to put her hair up so she could start on dinner. She smiled to herself, imagining Max coming home, felt his hands on her neck as he loosened her hair, kissed her neck. He always did that. Every single time. It was why she put it up in the first place.so he could take it down.
As Liz passed the open door to the spare room, she froze, catching a glimpse of someone standing in front of the window. She stepped backwards, without bothering to turn around and narrowed her eyes at the back of the figure staring out of the window.
"Who are you, and how did you get in here?" Liz demanded, then immediately cursed herself. What was she doing? She should have run straight for the door! Max was going to kill her when he found out she had just confronted a burgler. This could be more than a burgler too! They hadn't had any problems with the Skins since their enemies seemed to realize that Max was in no way going to pursue his throne, but maybe they had just been biding their time.
She could hear him already. Liz! You take too many chances! Don't you know what it would do to me to lose you?
"Well, I think that's kind of obvious, don't you?" Max flew from her mind as she recognized the voice.
Oh God. Not again.
Liz backed up against the wall in the hallway across from the door as it became clear to her who was standing before her. Those blue eyes. That white-blond hair. The unmistakable milky skin.
"No, you are not Tess. You're a shapeshifter. Max is going to be home any minute! You can't get away with this." She was babbling. She knew she was babbling. But her worst nightmare was back and she just regretted she hadn't run. Why hadn't she run?
Liz watched, confused, as the woman threw back her head and laughed at her. "I'm no shapeshifter, Liz. I'm exactly who you think I am. Only, I'm not the Tess you know. I'm here from the future."
"That't not possible," Liz said, stepping away from the wall to get a closer look at the other woman, her curiousity getting the better of her.
"Oh, it isn't now. But it is 14 years into the future. With the granolith."
"Why?" Liz demanded, anger beginning to replace her fear.
"Well, because I modified it. I gave it capabilities to-"
"No," Liz snapped. " I mean, why are you here?"
"Because I have something very important to tell you. Something that the future of Earth is depending on."
"What?" Liz asked, her eyes wide with curiousity.
"Here," Tess said, holding out her hand for Liz to take. "It'll be easier if I show you."
Liz shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, as she unconsciously paced back and forth in front of Max. The things she had seen that night had rocked her to the very core. They had been images of unspeakable horror, unimaginable heartbreak, and unfathomable pain. She had seen them once, and once only. That same night, she'd blocked the images from her mind, and hadn't been able to bring herself to deal with them since.
She'd only thought of them once more, and that was the night she'd told Serena what had happened. And Serena had been kind enough not to ask Liz the real reason she'd believed Tess.
It had been the only reason she'd believed the one person in her life she had never trusted before. Because Tess had not only told her of the things to come. She'd [i]shown[/i] them to her. Liz had reached out her hand and allowed a connection to form with the woman that had given her the news that shook her world.
It was her fault. Her fault that millions of innocent people died, fighting a war that wasn't theirs to begin with. Her fault that everyone she'd ever loved had become a casualty in the war for Earth's freedom. Her fault that their tight knit group of friends had been destroyed by the events that eventually led to the destruction of everything they'd worked so hard for.
Because she couldn't bear the child spoken of in the prophecy. Her body wouldn't carry Max's hybrid seed, and the child that was foreseen to save the world was never created. Simply because Max loved her and had chosen her over his destiny.
That was why she'd left Roswell. And Max. So that he could move on with Tess, and produce the life of the person that would prevent the horror she'd glimpsed in the future from ever becoming a reality.
"I won't tell you, Max. I promised I wouldn't ever tell anyone what I'd seen," Liz said softly.
"You promised? Who did you promise? What happened that night, Liz? What made you leave what we had behind?" As Liz looked over at Max, she could feel the heartbreak in his words. She could see the pain in the defeated slump of his shoulders. She could hear the pain in the gentle timbre of his voice. "We had it all, what people spend a lifetime looking for. What would make you give that up?"
"I found out that I could never have your kids, Max. I found out that because I couldn't have your children, our worst nightmare ended being a horrible, cruel reality that even [i]we[/i] weren't strong enough to prevent."
This time, it was Max who shook his head, and looked at Liz in confusion. "But that's wrong, Liz. You know it is. You've seen proof. You've seen Ellie. She's part human and part hybrid. She blows your reasons out of the water."
"That's not the reason, Max. Not because [i]we[/i] couldn't have kids. It was because I couldn't have kids. Not just your kids. Any kids. Period," Liz said, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"But I told you, Liz. That didn't matter to me, you did," Max said, pleadingly. "We could have found a way."
"But that's just it, Max," Liz said, throwing her arms out to her sides. "Can't you see? We [i]couldn't[/i] have found a way. Without the chosen baby, the one of your blood that would fulfill the prophecy to save the world, [i]no one[/i] could have found a way."
Liz knew she was raising her voice, but it was a defense mechanism. She could feel the dam holding back her tears, crumbling and cracking. Everything was tumbling down on her, and everything she had thought she'd long ago accepted was falling down at her feet. Forcing herself to be angry was the only way she knew how to cover up her hurt.
"We were the only hope, Max. You and your child were the only hope. The prophecy was never fulfilled, and the one person, the one life that could have saved millions was never created. Because you chose to ignore your destiny."
"Because I chose you," Max said defiantly.
Liz sighed deeply. Max was blatantly ignoring the fact that she'd just blasted him for choosing not to follow the path that his life had been predetermined to take. He'd always told her that they make their own destiny. And he believed he had made his own destiny the day he healed the bullet wound in Liz's stomach. Max had never accepted the fact that some choices had been made for him and had instead insisted on living his life the way he wanted. He would allow no one to tell him how his life was supposed to end up.
And here he was four years later, still exactly the same, still unwilling to bend, still unable to grasp his own importance. How could she ever have thought he had changed?
"Fine, whatever," Liz said, knowing that her frustration was evident in her voice. "But that doesn't change the fact that you need to have a child. Things can't happen the way they did the last time, Max. I know what will happen if that baby in the prophecy is never born. Things [i]can't[/i] turn out like that again. They can't! Trust me, Max. I've sent the what if. And I won't let it happen again! I won't!" Liz almost screamed, her eyes watering with unshed tears, her fists clenched at her sides.
Max took a few steps and stopped just inches away from Liz's shaking form. "Tell me what you saw, Liz. Please, I need to know."
"I'm sorry," Liz sobbed. Why she felt so much loyalty to the person she hated most in the world - Tess - she could not say, but she just [I]knew[/I] that she could not tell him. Even if it would convince him, she could not. "I can't."
Max held his hand out to Liz, and motioned for her to take it. "Well, then," he said, his tone urgent yet gentle, pleading, yet demanding. "Show me."
She blinked at him. "How?"
Max gently placed both of his hands on her face, lowered his head and stared straight into her eyes. "You know how."
And, then, he kissed her.
"Well, I know that you need a really awesome machine to do it. Which, the traveler usually builds himself,might I add, and that when you do travel, you can't come in contact with yourself because."
Tess couldn't help the giggle that escaped from her lips. She hadn't meant for Kyle to actually answer the question. It had been a hopeless attempt on her part to stall the impending conversation, and gain some sort of composure over herself. Because she was quickly losing it. But Kyle had taken the question literally. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much. He could always see the humor in any situation, but at this exact moment, that perk in his personality was more of a flaw. All she wanted him to do was be quiet and listen to what she had to say.
"Kyle, I didn't mean for you to actually answer the question," she said.
Kyle's mouth formed an 'O' shape, and he quickly let his sentence fade out. "Good, because time travel isn't really possible."
Tess looked at Kyle, with a warning glare, silently willing him to be quiet. He must have gotten her message when he threw his hands up in defeat. "Oookay. Then just tell me what you wanted to say."
Tess took a deep breath, and put her head in her hands. This was it. Her moment of truth. What she was about to reveal could make or break her. She could only hope it wasn't the latter.
"Time travel is possible, Kyle. I know it for a fact."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first impossible thing we've discovered to be possible, would it?" Kyle asked with a shrug of his shoulders.
Shaking her head, as if she hadn't heard him, Tess stood up and stepped in front of Kyle. "I know this, because I did it."
"You traveled through time?" Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Tess shook her head, realizing what she'd said hadn't come out how she'd meant it. "I mean, [i]I[/i] didn't do it, as in [i]me[/i] me, but I [i]did[/i] do it, as in [i]another[/i] me. Well, not another me, the same me, but a different version of me. A version of me from another time line. Another timeline's future, to be exact." Tess stopped talking, and turned to look at Kyle. He was obviously very confused.
"I don't understand, Tess."
"Kyle, before I came back to Roswell, I had a visitor. From the future. She told me things. How things turned out. What happened. And she told me how to stop them from happening. That's why I came back."
Kyle shook his head, still not fully understanding. "You came back here because someone from the future told you to? Why would you believe someone you don't know, Tess? [i]How[/i] could you believe someone you don't even know? What if it was an enemy? A shapeshifter. What if it had been a trick?" Kyle asked, his voice edgy with emotion.
"But that's just it, Kyle. I did know her. It was [i]me[/i]. A future version of myself. From 14 years in the future. I came - I mean, she came back to tell me what I had to do to save the world. That's how I know time travel is possible."
"You saw.you saw yourself?" Kyle asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.
Tess shook her head, and looked down at the floor. Had she seen herself? She had thought so at once. That the person who had come to her had been herself, from 14 years in the future. But now, she was almost positive that the person hadn't been her. Sure, it was a version of her. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it had been the Tess that she [i]had[/i] been. The Tess raised by Nasedo and left to fend for herself after his death. The Tess who had wanted nothing more in life than to be with Max and rule at his side as the Queen of Antar. It wasn't the Tess she was now. She now had people she loved and cared about, had people who called her family.
The other Tess had never experienced such a thing. No, she was not the same Tess.
Ultimately, the person she was now was obviously a lot smarter than the person who had visited from the future. Because, now, she was beginning to see the holes in the story. The things that didn't click. The loose threads that kept everything from coming together.
She was beginning to see in fact that she [i]had[/i] been lied to. And, right then, Tess Harding wanted nothing more than to throw herself across the bed and cry. Not for herself, but for the Tess Harding that had come to visit her four years ago. She wanted to cry for the way life had treated her. How could fate have been so undeniably cruel to someone that they would eventually turn on themselves in a vain attempt to make sure things turned out differently? Letting her guard down for just a moment, Tess forgot what it was she was trying to do, felt her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm a terrible person," Tess said, sighing heavily, talking to herself more than anything. Because if what she was suspecting was true - if she had come back from the future to lie to [I]herself[/I] - she was worse than terrible. She was also crazy.
"Hey," Kyle said soothingly, reaching up and grabbing Tess's hands from her head, gently pushing back the loose wisps of hair around her eyes. He pulled her down to sit next to him. "Don't say that. I'm sure there's an explanation. Whatever's upsetting you, you can tell me. You know that, right?"
Tess looked at Kyle, and couldn't help the single tear that ran down her cheek. She looked down at her fingers, toyed with ring on her left hand. Could she tell him? Could she tell him and still trust him to trust her?
"Tess," he said, tipping her chin "I love you. Whatever it is that's got you so upset, you can tell me. It won't change what I feel for you." Tess felt her heart speed up as Kyle took her left hand and lifted it to her eye level. "This," he said, fingering the ring that she had been toying with only seconds ago, "is forever."
Once again, he was reading her. She'd said nothing of her fears that if she told him the truth, he'd stop loving her. But he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Tess leaned in to Kyle's embrace and looked up into his eyes, offering him a small smile. She could see it in his gaze. She could see what was always there, could see why she loved him so much. Acceptance. Faith. And, unmistakably, unconditional love. It was then, at that instant, that she knew she could tell Kyle. Because he would love her regardless. She never once believed that someone would love her that way. But Kyle did. Her heart swelled with love for the man that she would spend the rest of her life with. At least, if everyone else hated her, she would still have Kyle. She reached up quickly, giving him a tender kiss, then took a deep breath and leaned her head on hi shoulder.
"At the time, I was renting a room at a boarding house. I came home, from going to get something to eat, and she was there. Waiting for me."
Tess sucked in a deep breath, and watched as the scene played out before her eyes.
Early Spring 2003
Turning the key in the door, Tess opened it and stepped inside. She kicked off her shoes at the doorway that separated the bedroom from the main room, the only other part of the small space she now called home.
Life had been hard for her since she'd left Roswell, and she hadn't been happy in what seemed like forever. She knew that her depression showed in her posture, her features and in her personality but she couldn't help it. She'd become something of a mystery to the other boarders, all of them wondering what brought so much sadness to the pretty blonde girl in 4A.
Pulling off her jacket, Tess dropped it on the small card table in the corner and walked into the bedroom, heading for the bath.
"Well now, is that any face to wear when greeting a visitor?"
Tess stopped and jerked her head towards the chair in the corner.
What she saw made her mouth open wide in shock.
The woman sitting in the chair looked so much like her, it made her skin crawl. She had long, wavy hair, which hung loosely down her back. Her eyes were icy blue and her skin a pale, flawless white. Her long slender legs were thrown up on the bed in casual disdain, and were only emphasized by black leather pants that clung to every curve and were tucked inside black knee boots. There was a black trench coat slung over the bed, which had obviously once covered the red halter top she was sporting - the colour of which matched the blood red fingernails she was presently filing with a lack of concern.
Tess immediately threw her hand up in a defensive stance. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" She asked forcefully, hoping her voice did not betray her fear. This had to be a shapeshifter. What did she want from her? Didn't she know that she had left everything she was meant to be back in Roswell, when she had told Max Evans to go screw himself? Of course, the fact that he had been screwing Liz Parker at the time immediately crossed her mind and just made her want to puke. She hastily pushed the thought away.
"Who am I? Tess, darling, do you really have to ask?" The woman chuckled slightly, and rose up, pulling her feet from the bed to the floor. "Isn't it obvious?"
Tess blinked her eyes, before narrowing them slightly at the woman seated before her. "I'll ask you again. Who-are-you?" She paused between her words to emphasize that she wanted an answer.
"Tess, I'm you."
Tess felt the floor spin beneath her and she fought to stay upright. "No, you're not. That's not possible."
"Oh, but it is. You made it possible yourself. Well, actually, me, but it will be you. But if I have my way, it won't."
"What are you talking about?" Tess demanded, taking deep breaths to steady herself. She could barely hear the woman, was listening through the blood rushing in her head.
"The granolith. I modified it. Learned how to make it into a time machine of sorts."
"Why?" Tess asked, lowering her hand, but still not letting her guard completely down.
The woman reached into the pocket of her trench coat, pulling out a small silver book. She threw it on the foot of the bed, within Tess's reach.
Tess gasped. She'd seen that book before. It was the Destiny Book.
"Because the world was ending silly. I had to do something to save it. So I found a way to come back to you and bring you this. I have some things I need to tell you."
"Why? I don't even know how to read this." Tess could feel her panic doubling, tripling. The end of the world? What was this woman talking about?
"Here's the thing sweetheart." The woman's voice was kinder than it had been before, like she was remembering who Tess was at this time. Like she felt compassion for her. It made Tess feel strange, accepting that this was [/I]really[I] her. "You can read it. You've just forgotten how. I decoded it myself and I'm here to show you what it says."
"I don't understand," Tess said, confused. "What did you come here to tell me?"
"It's your destiny, Tess. I'm going to show you how you can save the world."
Tess felt her heart speed up. Had the book really been decoded? If so, this could be what she'd been waiting for since leaving Roswell. Real proof of her destiny. Did this mean she could finally be with Max? Were all her dreams about to come true? All the hatred she had allowed to build up in her heart, the better to pretend she really didn't care anymore about Max, it faded away as though it had never existed.
He could still be hers. Hell, he was hers. Who the heck cared if he had married Liz? Liz, perfect Liz, who had given up all her dreams to become Max's wife, if Pam Troy was to be believed. Liz, who had stolen Tess's place and had never deserved Max anyway.
Tess reached out and fingered the small silver book. She let her fingers trace the royal symbol found on the front, and placed her hand over the cover, feeling the cool metal all but tingle beneath her palm. "What does it say?" She breathed, her hope overwhelming her caution.
She never looked up to see the wicked gleam in the other woman's eye.
"What did she say?" Kyle asked, softly.
"She told me that she'd come from the future. And that before she'd left, Earth had been taken over. She said that everyone was dead. You, Alex, Isabel, Michael, Max, Liz - everyone. Our enemies were too strong."
"Why would she come back to tell you [i]that[/i]?" Kyle asked.
"Because, she said I was the only one who could stop it."
"Stop it how?" Kyle asked.
Tess knew him well enough to know that he was still confused. "She said that she came back to her past to change the future. Kyle, she had the destiny book. She decoded it. She knew what it said. She came back to tell me what was in it, and how I could prevent the deaths of millions of innocent people." And how Max could finally belong to me, Tess reflected guiltily. And that was really why I came.
Kyle nodded, still trying to process so much information at one time. Tess watched the slight movement of his head, and went on.
"She said that the reason the world ended was because of a prophecy that had never been fulfilled."
"What does that have to do with you? Were you the prophecy?"
"No, not exactly," Tess answered hesitantly. "The prophecy said that only a child born of royal Antarian blood would save the world from total destruction. It said that the child had to be fathered by the King of Antar."
"Yeah, so, Max needed to have a kid. What was the problem?"
"The problem was, he was married to Liz, and she can't have his children."
"Wow," Kyle said softly. "That's terrible. Is Liz sterile?"
"No," Tess answered softly. "She, I mean, the other me, told me Liz can't have his child because she's not a hybrid. She told me that hybrids can't have children with humans, only with other hybrids. She told me [i]I[/i] was the only one who could help Max fulfill the prophecy. That's why I came back."
Tess heard Kyle's shocked gasp, turned to see the hurt, anger, and uncertainty flash through Kyle's eyes as he pulled his hands from her grasp.
"You came back to Roswell to have a baby with Max Evans?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Powers. I should have known. I mean, Kyle has some. It didn't even cross my mind to think that you'd have developed them as well." Max sounded more annoyed than anything, but Liz could tell it was at himself, not at her.
"They were awkward at first because I didn't know how to control them. But I practiced, and I'm really good now. Except when I'm stressed out. Then they sometimes.act on their own." Liz grimaced. "I'm sort of like Michael that way."
Max snorted slightly. "What can you do?" He asked stonily.
Liz shrugged her shoulders. "Same things you can do. Change molecular structures, move things - little things. And I can heal small cuts and bruises too, but nothing more. I suppose that comes from you."
"We all have one power unique to us. Even Kyle. What's yours?"
"I see things, Max. Things that haven't happened yet." Oh could she see things, Liz reflected bitterly. Horrible things.
"So, what, you can tell the future?" Max asked.
"No," Liz answered, shaking her head. "When I touch certain things, or talk to certain people, sometimes I get flashes of things that haven't happened yet. I can't control when or how, or why I get them. I just.get them. The first time it ever happened was the night I left Roswell."
"What did you see, Liz?"
Liz started to speak, but stopped abruptly when her mind was assaulted with images she'd long ago locked away.
Spring 2003 - Roswell, New Mexico
Liz Evans opened the door to the small, yet cozy apartment she'd lived in since she'd married Max. It wasn't much, but the memories she and her husband had made there made it home.
She put the groceries on the table and stopped long enough to sniff of the single white rose she found in the vase on the corner of the kitchen cabinet. He was always doing small things for her, always giving her a reason to smile.
She began to hum to herself as she made her way down the hall to grab a clip from their bedroom to put her hair up so she could start on dinner. She smiled to herself, imagining Max coming home, felt his hands on her neck as he loosened her hair, kissed her neck. He always did that. Every single time. It was why she put it up in the first place.so he could take it down.
As Liz passed the open door to the spare room, she froze, catching a glimpse of someone standing in front of the window. She stepped backwards, without bothering to turn around and narrowed her eyes at the back of the figure staring out of the window.
"Who are you, and how did you get in here?" Liz demanded, then immediately cursed herself. What was she doing? She should have run straight for the door! Max was going to kill her when he found out she had just confronted a burgler. This could be more than a burgler too! They hadn't had any problems with the Skins since their enemies seemed to realize that Max was in no way going to pursue his throne, but maybe they had just been biding their time.
She could hear him already. Liz! You take too many chances! Don't you know what it would do to me to lose you?
"Well, I think that's kind of obvious, don't you?" Max flew from her mind as she recognized the voice.
Oh God. Not again.
Liz backed up against the wall in the hallway across from the door as it became clear to her who was standing before her. Those blue eyes. That white-blond hair. The unmistakable milky skin.
"No, you are not Tess. You're a shapeshifter. Max is going to be home any minute! You can't get away with this." She was babbling. She knew she was babbling. But her worst nightmare was back and she just regretted she hadn't run. Why hadn't she run?
Liz watched, confused, as the woman threw back her head and laughed at her. "I'm no shapeshifter, Liz. I'm exactly who you think I am. Only, I'm not the Tess you know. I'm here from the future."
"That't not possible," Liz said, stepping away from the wall to get a closer look at the other woman, her curiousity getting the better of her.
"Oh, it isn't now. But it is 14 years into the future. With the granolith."
"Why?" Liz demanded, anger beginning to replace her fear.
"Well, because I modified it. I gave it capabilities to-"
"No," Liz snapped. " I mean, why are you here?"
"Because I have something very important to tell you. Something that the future of Earth is depending on."
"What?" Liz asked, her eyes wide with curiousity.
"Here," Tess said, holding out her hand for Liz to take. "It'll be easier if I show you."
Liz shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest, as she unconsciously paced back and forth in front of Max. The things she had seen that night had rocked her to the very core. They had been images of unspeakable horror, unimaginable heartbreak, and unfathomable pain. She had seen them once, and once only. That same night, she'd blocked the images from her mind, and hadn't been able to bring herself to deal with them since.
She'd only thought of them once more, and that was the night she'd told Serena what had happened. And Serena had been kind enough not to ask Liz the real reason she'd believed Tess.
It had been the only reason she'd believed the one person in her life she had never trusted before. Because Tess had not only told her of the things to come. She'd [i]shown[/i] them to her. Liz had reached out her hand and allowed a connection to form with the woman that had given her the news that shook her world.
It was her fault. Her fault that millions of innocent people died, fighting a war that wasn't theirs to begin with. Her fault that everyone she'd ever loved had become a casualty in the war for Earth's freedom. Her fault that their tight knit group of friends had been destroyed by the events that eventually led to the destruction of everything they'd worked so hard for.
Because she couldn't bear the child spoken of in the prophecy. Her body wouldn't carry Max's hybrid seed, and the child that was foreseen to save the world was never created. Simply because Max loved her and had chosen her over his destiny.
That was why she'd left Roswell. And Max. So that he could move on with Tess, and produce the life of the person that would prevent the horror she'd glimpsed in the future from ever becoming a reality.
"I won't tell you, Max. I promised I wouldn't ever tell anyone what I'd seen," Liz said softly.
"You promised? Who did you promise? What happened that night, Liz? What made you leave what we had behind?" As Liz looked over at Max, she could feel the heartbreak in his words. She could see the pain in the defeated slump of his shoulders. She could hear the pain in the gentle timbre of his voice. "We had it all, what people spend a lifetime looking for. What would make you give that up?"
"I found out that I could never have your kids, Max. I found out that because I couldn't have your children, our worst nightmare ended being a horrible, cruel reality that even [i]we[/i] weren't strong enough to prevent."
This time, it was Max who shook his head, and looked at Liz in confusion. "But that's wrong, Liz. You know it is. You've seen proof. You've seen Ellie. She's part human and part hybrid. She blows your reasons out of the water."
"That's not the reason, Max. Not because [i]we[/i] couldn't have kids. It was because I couldn't have kids. Not just your kids. Any kids. Period," Liz said, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"But I told you, Liz. That didn't matter to me, you did," Max said, pleadingly. "We could have found a way."
"But that's just it, Max," Liz said, throwing her arms out to her sides. "Can't you see? We [i]couldn't[/i] have found a way. Without the chosen baby, the one of your blood that would fulfill the prophecy to save the world, [i]no one[/i] could have found a way."
Liz knew she was raising her voice, but it was a defense mechanism. She could feel the dam holding back her tears, crumbling and cracking. Everything was tumbling down on her, and everything she had thought she'd long ago accepted was falling down at her feet. Forcing herself to be angry was the only way she knew how to cover up her hurt.
"We were the only hope, Max. You and your child were the only hope. The prophecy was never fulfilled, and the one person, the one life that could have saved millions was never created. Because you chose to ignore your destiny."
"Because I chose you," Max said defiantly.
Liz sighed deeply. Max was blatantly ignoring the fact that she'd just blasted him for choosing not to follow the path that his life had been predetermined to take. He'd always told her that they make their own destiny. And he believed he had made his own destiny the day he healed the bullet wound in Liz's stomach. Max had never accepted the fact that some choices had been made for him and had instead insisted on living his life the way he wanted. He would allow no one to tell him how his life was supposed to end up.
And here he was four years later, still exactly the same, still unwilling to bend, still unable to grasp his own importance. How could she ever have thought he had changed?
"Fine, whatever," Liz said, knowing that her frustration was evident in her voice. "But that doesn't change the fact that you need to have a child. Things can't happen the way they did the last time, Max. I know what will happen if that baby in the prophecy is never born. Things [i]can't[/i] turn out like that again. They can't! Trust me, Max. I've sent the what if. And I won't let it happen again! I won't!" Liz almost screamed, her eyes watering with unshed tears, her fists clenched at her sides.
Max took a few steps and stopped just inches away from Liz's shaking form. "Tell me what you saw, Liz. Please, I need to know."
"I'm sorry," Liz sobbed. Why she felt so much loyalty to the person she hated most in the world - Tess - she could not say, but she just [I]knew[/I] that she could not tell him. Even if it would convince him, she could not. "I can't."
Max held his hand out to Liz, and motioned for her to take it. "Well, then," he said, his tone urgent yet gentle, pleading, yet demanding. "Show me."
She blinked at him. "How?"
Max gently placed both of his hands on her face, lowered his head and stared straight into her eyes. "You know how."
And, then, he kissed her.
